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Bridgeport-Spaulding schools approves deficit plan; awaits state OK

Bridgeport school board discuss districts $2.2 million deficit

From left, Dempsey Allen, Michael Gall, and Jay Bruns sit during a Bridgeport school board meeting, in March at Bridgeport High School. The meeting was to discuss the $2.2 million deficit.
(Neil Barris | Mlive.com)

BRIDGEPORT TOWNSHIP, MI — All that's left for Bridgeport-Spaulding Community Schools officials is to wait for a state decision on their get-out-of-debt plan.

The Board of Education voted 6-0 at a Friday, April 11, special meeting to accept three employee group contracts that will help get the district in the black by the end of the 2016-2017 school year.

Six people attended the meeting. Board President Marti Sageman was absent.

The administration, teachers and support staff unions conceded a 5 percent continuation in wage reductions, adjusted insurance plans and furlough days, said Superintendent Gloria Rubis. The concessions save about $2.6 million in the next three years.

Bridgeport schools must submit a viable deficit elimination plan to the Michigan Department of Education by Monday, April 14, or the state will withhold its $1 million April state aid payment.

The Saginaw County district of about 1,660 students has a $2.2 million deficit and a $14.7 general fund budget.

Rubis said she sent the deficit elimination plan to State Deputy Superintendent Carol Wolenberg earlier Friday, and would follow up with the board approvals.

Although Friday's meeting lasted for 3 minutes, it was the final decision the district needed after weeks of work to get its plan in on time.

“We’ve been working on this for four weeks. We just needed the gavel drop saying, ‘OK, we’re good to go,’ ” Rubis said.

Rubis took an approximately 5 percent concession last year by paying more for her insurance, she said.

"Without the employee groups, this wouldn't have happened. They give and give and give, and I want to thank them for that," said Jay Bruns, a board member.

Bridgeport is among 46 Michigan districts operating with a deficit, including the neighboring Saginaw School District.

Rubis said the district lost 100 students a year from 2000 to 2009, and at about $7,000 per student in state funding, it's a huge loss in revenue.

"This isn’t something that just happened this year or last year," she said. "This has been going on since the demise of the auto industry."

The revised deficit elimination cuts the deficit from $3.2 million in 2013 to $510,602 at the end of the 2015-2016 school year. Bridgeport schools is projected to have $446,267 in the bank in 2017. Projected revenues in 2017 are $15.5 million.

"It's amazing everyone here was working together to get a plan in place," said Larry Long, a board member. "It's a good testament to all the employees who work here."

— Lindsay Knake covers education for MLive/The Saginaw News. Follow her on twitter or contact her at 989-372-2498 or lknake@mlive.com.